You know there has to be an actual ‘easy’ button out there somewhere. I mean no one can seriously work a full-time job and build a home business without some sort of trickery or magic potions, right?

See if this sounds familiar…

You work about fifty hours a week in your forty-hour-a-week job, commute, run the kids all over creation for sports and activities, cook, clean, do laundry, and then have ten or fifteen ‘contacts’ with potential prospects for your home business. Throw in a few one-on-ones and a home meeting, and you may sleep next February!

So what gives? We all have the same 24 hours in a day. How can some people build empires and others can barely hold their household together?

Productivity and Leverage…it’s the secret sauce of the ‘haves’ in the world.

…to help you actually build your home business and work toward that fabled time and financial freedom you’ve heard so much about…

Productivity Tips #1: Morning Routine and Evening Routine –

Protect them like your life depends on it! It takes about 37 days (approximately, lol) to form a new habit (Power of Habit, Duhigg), so commit to yourself to do this for 60 days, and you will see amazing results on the other side. 30 days aren’t quite enough to make it stick, so you need to make it 60. Your morning routine can be whatever works for you. Here’s a recent post by HubSpot, and my short-list of these:

Get Up Early Some famous CEOs get up as early as 3:45, but for most 5:00 – 5:45 seems to be the sweet spot. The early bird does get the worm, and the sale!

Meditation or Prayer
Quiet time with yourself and your thoughts to relax, be mindful, and prepare for the day. Allow your mind to wander, but bring it back, and focus on calming and centering yourself. This isn’t the time to map out your day, but time to clear your head to make room for all those amazing ideas you will have later.Affirmations or Positive Self-Talk – Be kind to yourself and be a bit of a cheerleader for YOU. Drive your energy in the right direction for a productive and positive day! You can find lots of quotes, cards and books on this subject, so be creative.

ExerciseEven 15 minutes of simple stretching makes a big difference in how you progress through your day. If you do it for 30 minutes 3 times a week, you can actually live longer, too. This can be a routine trip to the gym, a walk outside, or anything – as long as you’re moving. A little physical exertion gets your juices flowing, and your metabolism, too. I like doing AM/PM Yoga – because it’s like exercise, but very calming, too.

Healthy Meal or SmoothieYou’ve heard it a million times – ‘you get out of it what you put into it.’ This is absolutely true where the human body is concerned. When you eat and hydrate properly, all systems work better, and you will find that your productivity increases along with your energy and outlook.

Journaling & Practicing GratitudeThis particular Productivity Tip has come into and out of fashion a thousand times over the years. However, throughout time, it is a common thread among the most successful entrepreneurs and business minds. Take 5 minutes to jot down your thoughts, and gratitude. A moment of practiced focus on what you have to be grateful for can set a benevolent tone for the day, and help you remain balanced, even in times of high stress.

Most part-time entrepreneurs have heard of DMO’s, but often aren’t really sure what they are. Well, the DMO, or Daily Method of Operation, is critical to keeping you on task throughout the day. It’s basically the modern rendition of a schedule or planner, but usually kept on your Google Calendar or other app or software. The key is accountability. When you plan to spend your time doing specific tasks – do those tasks. Set your schedule and stick to it. Hold yourself accountable for getting it done. Set up a penalty and reward system to put both pain and pleasure into play – then implement a system of accountability so you will stick to the schedule.

The one most people miss is the Daily Action Plan! Knowing what time of day to do things is great, but knowing exactly what you should be doing during your daily ‘marketing routine’ is another thing entirely. Maybe you were like a lot of other people – started your home business, and dove right in, then a few weeks – or months – down the road you feel like a ship lost at sea. Your upline isn’t really around anymore. (They’ve moved on to the productive new reps.) You don’t know if you should buy leads, buy ads, or stand on a busy downtown corner trying to prospect strangers (you shouldn’t!). When you learn how to properly market yourself and your business, then you will know what needs to be done every day. The Daily Action Plan will keep you on task!

–Tip #2 Hint to High Achievement:

I recommend 1-3 Daily Actions for part-time entrepreneurs, and 3-5 for full-timers. These should be your most important, highly leveraged activities that will move your business forward and make a direct impact on your bottom line. Whether you’re building a new Facebook ad, writing a blog post or quick social media post, or planning your first hosted Super Saturday, you will know exactly what needs to be done.

Productivity Tips #3: Be Productive, Not Busy

See if this sounds familiar…

You jump on Facebook to check on your latest ad, and comment in a meaningful way in a few groups you follow. You’re eager to get to your ‘list’ and dive in. Busy…busy…busy…commenting…messaging…lol’ing.

You look up at the clock – and nearly TWO HOURS have passed – how can that be?! Seriously! How. Can. That. BE?!

Social media is a great tool, and it can also be a huge time vampire, so you have to manage your media and your time. When you jump on any social media platform, set a time boundary, and stick to it. Scrolling newsfeed watching kitten videos is not an income producing activity. Messaging prospects may be – if they have shown interest and want information. (Never spam your info or links. Ever.)

If you struggle with this, then set a simple kitchen timer, or even the timer on your phone, to remind you when it’s time to move on. These activities are important, but not the only thing you need to do daily. This is also true with Email and other tasks you need to do every day, but you need to control as well. Make sure you are spending the allotted time being productive, not just busy.

Productivity Tips #4: Make Lists –

This particular Productivity Tip is likely way older than you are. Be like Santa – make your list and check it twice. I usually do a list at night when the day’s activities are still fresh, and then review it after quiet time in the morning for any adjustments. My plans are annual, quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily. There are rarely big surprises on the to-do side of things when you practice this process.

Make a list every day. Then, prioritize the list, and make sure you do the single most important thing first. Whether you have one hour or five to spend on your business, and whether you do it in the morning or evening…do the most important one thing FIRST. You can write it on paper, keep it on your computer or your smartphone. There are TONS of apps (and extensions) for that!

This can be calling prospects, conducting a webinar or meeting, or building a new sales funnel. Many parts of your business are important to your overall success, but you have to prioritize one thing that is your ‘must-do’ each day. Then you have to hold yourself accountable for getting it done. Period.

Productivity Tips #5: Automation – and Knowing When To Use It –

We all want more automation in our businesses to get more leverage. Leverage and time compression are things of legend among new entrepreneurs. You hear lots of talk of these things, but you don’t always get to see them in action.

If you have a real sales funnel, then you know a bit about both. You can have a give-away, or ‘lead magnet’ available on your website, and the entire process of someone giving you their email address, receiving the free gift from you, and then getting a few emails from you afterward is done automatically. The beauty of technology!

In general, anything you do more than 3 times should have a template, video or other means of duplication in place.

This is also true for many of the tools you may have available to you from your primary network marketing company. They may provide you with videos, webinars and other peripheral materials to help you promote your business and products. These are all little automated machines that can work for you around the clock, with a little marketing training.

Caution: Automation Productivity Trap

Personal training for new distributors or reps is the only hard exception to the 3 times equals a template or automation rule. You don’t have to personally do it all, but a team member should personally welcome and train them to get them into action and earnings within the first day. This raises belief – they see the model really works, and it helps them become more than a product of the product – you want a whole team of evangelists! This is how you do it!

When you bring a new distributor on board, you can automate part of the process, but you also want to spend some personal time with them. Those first few hours of indoctrination and training can help you retain 90% of new recruits, if done properly. You can sit with them, and get some of their closest allies as their best customers before they even receive their enrollment kit. This is definitely the time to keep it personal.

The video below is a recent Monday Mojo, sponsored by Elite Marketing Pro, where I hung out with Chef Katrina, and we talked about these productivity tips.

Productivity Tips BONUS: Tips, Tricks and Tools of the Trade – Here are a few of my favorite things for staying productive…

Marketing Tools:

Elite Marketing Pro – I’m a VIP Traffic Coach, and an alumna of the Elevation Mentorship program. This stuff works! Complete marketing education and system comes with a blog and capture page builder. This is the hands-down best value in our space to learn how to grow your business online.

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Penny Kelley is a Professional Coach and Consultant specializing in Traffic and Lead Generation. She is passionate about helping marketers and entrepreneurs achieve ambitious goals and live their dreams. She is also a wife, mom to two great kids and one spoiled cat, wine lover and soccer fan. She intimately understands the importance of maximizing your productivity in your business and your life! How can Penny help you achieve your goals?